Health Benefits Of Coconut

while being scrumptious, coconuts also offer many health benefits. From curing diseases to enhancing beauty, it is truly a wonder food.

It is available in different forms, such as coconut water, oil, cream, milk and fresh and dry coconut.

Let’s enlighten those who are yet to discover the fascinating facts about this magical fruit.

Helps in weight loss:
Though coconut oil contains a lot of saturated fat, it helps amazingly in reducing weight and increasing metabolism, without adding extra calories to your body. Daily consumption of coconut develops a better capability of staying without food for long hours. Being a thermogenic food, it helps to increase the fat burning property of the body.

Protects hair and skin:
Coconut oil is effective for hair. It promotes hair growth, removes dandruff and works as a great conditioner. Both coconut oil and coconut milk are healthy for your face and skin. You can use them as a makeup remover and facial scrub. It also helps in preventing acne, delaying the signs of ageing, moisturizes the skin and treats skin allergies.

Improves digestion: Coconut not only makes the digestion process easy but also prevents various digestive issues. Loaded with MCFAs and lauric acid, coconut increases metabolism and fights bacteria and viruses. It contributes in better absorption of nutrients, prevention of bowel maladies and cures inflammation in the digestive tract. You can either eat raw coconut, or use coconut flour or oil.

Reduces heart diseases:
Its oil contains medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA), which are saturated fats. These reduce the risk of heart diseases and strokes. Coconut helps a lot in balancing cholesterol levels in the blood and, thus, contributes in keeping your heart healthy. Virgin coconut oil is the best for your cardiovascular health.

Supports thyroid system:
People with thyroid conditions have a slower metabolism. The MCFAs and Lauric acid present in coconut oil helps to prevent hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. These healthy fats increase body’s metabolism, promote weight loss, supress inflammations and provide instant energy to the body. Replacing soy or corn oil with coconut oil is a healthier alternative. People consuming it regularly have balanced thyroid levels and reduced goitre size.

Strengthens muscles:
Regular consumption of coconut milk increases your strength and physical performance. As mentioned earlier, it helps in absorbing more and more nutrients which strengthen your muscles. And not just this, it also helps in repairing broken tissues and in making them stronger. The yummy way of consuming coconut milk is by using them in making curries and desserts.

Hence, coconut in either form is high in nutritive value. Apart from the above-mentioned ones, there are many other benefits it offers to our overall health and beauty, such as, coconut water is a refreshing low-calorie natural beverage and a great source of hydration to the body. The micronutrients in coconut water help boost the immune system. It is a rich source of essential minerals like potassium, calcium, folic acid and magnesium. Coconut water is beneficial in issues related to liver function and digestion. Moreover, there are so many mouth-watering dishes one can prepare by using coconut as an essential ingredient.

Special Note – Try using only organic, virgin coconut oil for extracting complete benefits of this superfood.